Well, kids. Here is the promised sequel to the Probe Saga. It takes place roughly 4 years after it ends and during that little 7 year hole between the Cell and Buu Sagas. (I like filling in holes in case you couldn’t already tell.) In this one you will find out who sent the probe and a little bit about Veggie’s past. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z or any of its characters, nor am I claiming ownership. I do however own all the characters that I’ve created including the one who appears in this prologue. I am not making money off of this story.


The Machine Planet Saga
By: Lil Songbird

 

Prologue

 

Galaxy 2X4598 is often looked upon by the rest of the universe in general as insignificant. From what they could gather it only harbored one sentient species and that species occupied one planet almost at its center. Little was known about this planet, purportedly called Earth by its inhabitants, or the earthlings and nobody really cared to know. Well, actually they did care to but were too afraid to try and find the answers. The fear and superstition that had arisen around this galaxy, earth and the earth dwellers was due to one irrefutable fact: Apart from the early scouts and probes dispatched there by the Cold Empire anyone or anything that set foot on the planet was never heard from again. Although this fact alone would have been enough in of itself to deter anyone from going there the names of the beings who made up the list of those swallowed up by what had been dubbed as the "Curse of Earth" was even more disconcerting.

All those who had disappeared were members of the Cold Empire’s impressive and universally feared military. The first to perish were the saiyajin warriors Raditz and Nappa who, along with their leader the Saiyajin Prince Vegeta, had made a fearsome name for themselves as Lord Freeza’s best squad of planet purgers. Next to go was the Saiyajin Prince. Last of all was the ruler of the Cold Empire himself and his son Lord Freeza, the most powerful warriors yet known in the universe, and half of their army. After Freeza and King Cold’s disappearance no one cared to try to visit the cursed place.

Fortunately the humans, as they purportedly called themselves, had thus far decided to mind their own business and had never emerged from their little corner of the universe. As far as everyone was concerned they could keep to themselves and they would leave them be. No would ever try again to reach the mysterious planet deeming it too risky, that is every one but the shadowy inhabitants of another planet who were viewed with as much superstition and fear as the earthlings themselves.

This mysterious lot, known only as the Machine Planet Guild, had sent a probe to earth around four years ago and it too had never returned. Undaunted, they now had dispatched a scout to the planet. A scout, who at this very moment was passing the planet Saturn inside his strange cylindrical craft, and sensing this fact the ship had now turned on its systems and slowed its course. The dim lights within the ship flicked on and illuminated the interior for its single occupant who was just waking up from his hibernation.

"Approaching asteroid belt in 5 minutes" the ship’s computer announced.

The occupant responded to the announcement by opening his green eyes and groggily looking about him. "Computer" he said with a yawn "give me a visual feed." He blinked and nodded his shaggy blond head trying to clear the cobwebs before the image entered his brain. After another moment his mind was filled with the picture of a vast field of large celestial rocks.

"Well at least that portion of the report was correct," he thought. "Scan the field for an asteroid just slightly bigger than this ship," he commanded the machine flexing his gloved hands and the other joints of his upper limbs in his ritual self test "and put the ship under my control." Although the ship was perfectly capable of executing the task on its own he felt the restless need to occupy himself with the task.

He "watched" inside his mind while the colorless light beam swept the area directly in front of him. Information poured into his head about the all of the asteroid’s compositions and dimensions. The speed with which it entered his mind would have been too fast for any normal being to sort through but with his enhanced mind he found it simple to isolate 3 candidates. He focused his mind on one rock and the ship’s computer obediently focused on the area magnifying it.

"It looks just right," he said out loud to himself. Although it was possible just to relay all his commands via his mind link to the ship he liked hearing the sound of articulated speech so he often engaged himself in self-chat or verbalized his commands when he was on a mission. For this reason he had put the computer on the audio response setting. Right now the stuffy windowless ship seemed especially oppressive and he couldn’t wait until he made planet fall.

Concentrating once again on the task at hand he deftly maneuvered the ship through the other rocks that he could feel all around him, curtsey of the ship’s censors, to the one he had selected. When he reached the rock he released the grappling claws and latched on to it. After he was certain that it was secure he moved the ship forward and it groaned in protest as it struggled with its burden. The young pilot noted that another asteroid was about to cross their current course in a collision path so, knowing that his maneuvering capabilities were hampered by his cargo, with a thought he shot a laser at the exact strength the ship’s sensors told him was necessary to vaporize it. Moving through the cloud of vapor that was once an asteroid he exited the field and continued on his way to earth.

"Put up the cloak and the sensor and Ki shields," he ordered out loud. "Disengage mental link and take control back until we reach earth’s atmosphere." The youth sighed when the picture vanished from his mind. "How long until we reach our destination?" he asked the ship.

"Exactly ten minutes" came its reply.

He heaved another sigh. "I hope that this assignment isn’t as boring as the last one the Doctor sent me on," he said to himself in sotto voice. He’d rather not think about how disappointing planet Orion had been. It that had absolutely no technology to speak of accept an atmospheric shield. This shield had disintegrated the probe they had sent not out of the oriajins cleverness but rather by accident. The shield had been up for 1,000 years because all of the idiots who built the thing had died and the other mental midgets on the planet didn’t even attempt to shut it off. Their technology was so far out-dated that he had secured them as an eager client of the Machine Guild. Of course, the Doctor was thrilled to secure a new client but he personally enjoyed making technological discoveries far more than securing clients. In fact, few things brought him joy greater than procuring new technology for the Guild except for fighting.

Due to the fact that the earth was just as isolated as Orion he had little doubt that this planet would be found equally as boring. The disappearances of the mighty warriors would probably turn out to be due to a fluke and the people too backward to even secure as clients. "Of course the "Curse of the Earth" sounds rather promising in the entertainment department" he mused to himself. "Who knows I might even find something worth while on the blasted rock. If any of the stories are to be believed I shall meet an invincible army led by a crazy, magic ball wielding, saiyajin riding on a dragon."

He allowed a brief chuckle to escape his lips at the thought of the invincible saiyajin warrior, the super saiyajin of legend reborn. The absurd stories being told among universal society at large were indeed ridiculous. They were based on a few facts derived from what remained of Lord Frieza’s army and the Cold Empire (which wasn’t much), a few disturbing reports of an apparently raving Saiyajin Prince as he merrily went on his way destroying space out posts and cities shortly after Nameksei’s destruction, and the stories of the Yardatjin who were known to be great exaggerators of the truth. According to the reports this ‘super saiyajin’ destroyed Freeza, escaped the dying Nameksei, and lived amongst the Yarditjin for a period of time before he returned to his planet. The Saiyajin Prince, after his rampage, left for earth and arrived about the same time as King Cold and Lord Freeza and then no one was heard from again.

"We are entering Earth’s atmosphere," the ship announced.

"Very well" the young scout replied "handle the reentry and make it look like a falling rock but don’t crash." The young man stretched and stood up preparing himself for his action upon landing a smile gracing his lips and a sparkle in his green eyes. "I certainly hope that at least some of the stories are true. I haven’t seen any real action since my last life" he mused as the ship began its descent. Yes he hoped that the Legendary Super Saiyajin wasn’t just a legend and that somehow he was forced to fight him.

* * * * *

That’s it for now.

Our heroes notice the "meteor" enter earth’s atmosphere and our story begins, plus we find out Bulma’s been working on a secret project for these four years in…

Chapter 1: Adventures in Baby Sitting

Stop by my homepage at http://www.geocities.com/l_songbird for previous chapters of this epic, other stories I’ve written, as well as artwork based on my stories.


Table of Contents
Chapter 1